Mirror Images
by LeftMeSpeechless
Summary: What is it you see when you look in the mirror. How should you be judged - mercenary, thief and assassin... a tool, sold to anyone who pays How should you judge yourself, what does one see when he looks into the mirror. KakaIru later, rated M to be safe


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters or settings or whatever, I just kind of borrowed them…

Summary: Chuunin - nondescript, insignificant, weak and exchangeable is what they are, aren't they? A mission to Suna might prove that wrong. Might get KakaxIru or IruxKaka for that matter. Rated M to be safe for later language and violence alone.

Set before the Chuunin exams and Sasuke leaving Konoha but will end up later…

[Chapter 1: Messages]

_Iruka reached out for the tiny leg of a sparrow, and removed the small note attached to its leg. It felt like he was watching himself do it, his body acting on autopilot. The little bird was holding it out for him in an almost human gesture, while regarding him with its emotionless black eyes. When he had the note and unrolled it, the sparrow immediately left, and a big blackbird replaced it. It was somehow disturbing. The note was hard to read, it was written in almost unreadable chicken scratches. His brow creased in a frown as he tried to decipher it. It was hard to concentrate on the letters; they seemed to slip through his grasp. Before he could make sense of it, a yellow beak pecking his kneecap brought his attention back to the next bird that was already holding out its delicate leg for him to remove it's note. He began untying the note as the crease between his brow deepened._

_He looked around as he sat on the roof terrace of the apartment building he lived in, leaning his back against the concrete wall of the staircase in the centre. It was unnaturally silent. He found himself surrounded by __a__ flock of singing birds. They were all around him, covering every spare surface. There were different breeds of tits not chirping amiably with their neighbours as they usually would and robins, blackbirds and tiny brown ones he couldn't even name. The largest present were a few bored looking jackdaws with shiny black and grey feathers with cold blue eyes that were assessing him. They sat on every ledge they could find; all eyes were trained on him, no sound but the occasional rustle of feathers. It was creepy. They all had notes and were waiting for him to remove each one. _

_He gasped as a cold bead of sweat rolled down his temple at the sight of so many birds with their attention focused on him. Some were gathered around the roof of the staircase, the tops of__chairs, the fence around the outer rim of the terrace, and even the massive concrete plant pots. He frantically looked around. They were everywhere. He already had a large pile of small wrinkled papers littered on the floor around him, every one containing a short note. Every single bird had a message attached to its leg. Some just watched him; some were hopping excitedly towards him, urging him to take the note from them. All he could hear where the sounds of their claws and their feathers clicking and rustling impatiently. He tensed knowing that he needed to take all the notes from them and read them, they were important! He had this odd sense of urgency to do so - it was his job to do so. He needed to hurry! His fingers fumbled with the next note attached to the twig like leg. The shuffling of the birds became increasingly frantic and his fingers more unsteady._

_Hurry! _

_The fluttering wings, feathers rustling and then he heard a low croak from the jackdaws. He felt the claws on his knee digging in deeper than before and feathers brushing his skin. All of the birds had __taken__ off at once, and were now singing, all their voices melding together in a deafeningly high-pitched noise. It became louder as the whole flock formed a solid veil of bodies around him. He couldn't see what was beyond them; they were forming what appeared to be a maelstrom of birds. He was completely separated from the outside world, neither could he see nor hear anything else other than the tiny-feathered creatures that blurred into a grey stream before his eyes. He began to feel dizzy. He raised his arms protectively over his head, but no bird ever touched him. The noise began to ebb away, and then become louder in the next second. He listened to the steady rhythm it was taking up. He had the feeling that he would suffocate inside this maelstrom. Then the noise changed again, it became slowly sharper, shrill and concluded in a tiny beeping sound and then all the birds were gone. _

He woke with a sharp gasp, and pushed himself up. He looked around disoriented, and found himself in his bedroom. He groaned and fell back on his bed after hitting his alarm clock - hard. He closed his eyes again wrapping his right arm around his head protectively. He felt like a herd of the Nara's stags had trampled over him – twice, just for good measure. He rolled over, curled his arm around his pillow, and weighed his chances of being able to suffocate himself with it.

It had taken him until two in the morning to finish all the grading, the last preparations for the final exams, and even then the Chuunin exam files were still looming on his coffee table. He groaned again, but was too tired to curse. He really had to work on his time management.

He cracked open one eye, glanced at the alarm clock, and shot upright at the sight that met him. The stoic red letters on his alarm clock said it was 5:40 am. It must have been ringing for at least ten minutes. He disentangled himself from his sheets and staggered into the kitchen to brew a coffee that could also be used to bring back the dead, before he headed to the bathroom.

A welcome shower, a healthy coffee infusion and a less healthy dose of painkillers for the imminent headache later, he was ready to leave. He regarded himself in the mirror next to the door, and decided that he didn't look as dead as he felt.

The morning was brilliant. The sun was barely up and the sky was still tinged in rosy colours, only marred by a few stray wisps of cloud that would vanish in no time when the sun was finally up. The air was crisp and still cool, scented with the smell of summer.

Iruka stepped out of his apartment and shut the door behind him. He was carrying his usual leather shoulder bag, which looked like it would burst any time now. His key jingled happily in the lock and he glared at it, before he activated the traps with a small pulse of his chakra. All the morning glory was totally lost on the Chuunin as he hurried down the silent narrow streets that still needed to wake up. His ponytail was swinging in time with the hurried rhythm of his steps. Before the academy day started, he needed to see Ibiki or at least try to make an appointment with him. Then he needed to get to his Shinobi wannabes and teach them whatever he had written on his lesson plan earlier, he couldn't remember and that was unnerving. A crease began to build right beside his right brow. He couldn't remember what he would be teaching today. The last two weeks had really taken their toll on him, and seemed to fade into a blur. He had rarely slept enough or eaten properly, he ran more and more on coffee and painkillers than food and much missed sleep.

So, then he would have to be faster now and get everything else done with so he could find out what he would be doing with his students before they arrived. With a determined look he collected his chakra, jumped up on the rooftops, and ran top speed towards the T&I building.

****************

Kakashi and his team had gotten one of the D-rank missions that most male Jounin-sensei's couldn't stand. Babysitting! That meant that they didn't just have to look out for their Genin, which sometimes really felt like babysitting, but they had gotten a few extra kids on top of that. So Kakashi found himself in a nice neighbourhood in Konoha in a nice house, with two nice five-year-old identical twins. That meant five kids instead of three. The first thing he had asked himself, when they had received the mission in the morning, was why the hell he had passed this lot again? Right, they disobeyed him. He really should think again, if it was a wise decision, to pass brats that disobey instead of passing brats that obey. In hindsight, it seemed pretty ridiculous even to him. Hindsight is a bitch.

However, for him this mission soon turned out to be one of the most relaxing they had ever had. To his utter astonishment, his team managed the twins with unbelievable ease. Sakura was just sweet and Naruto slipped easily into the playfellow/older brother role while Sasuke remained in the background and took care that nothing bad happened. Kakashi felt unnecessary, but he wouldn't complain. He would tease Asuma to no end with how easily his team had managed this and that the kids they were watching had had actual fun. Asuma hated babysitting missions, and with Shikamaru, Ino and Choji Kakashi could see why. He smirked a little when he imagined team 10 taking care of the twins instead of them. Until noon, he had done nothing more than snatch a book from one of the shelf in the living room, settling down near them and enjoying the odd bit of peace.

After that he was in the kitchen and prepared lunch for all of them. That was one thing he didn't trust his Genin to do without causing serious harm, and he wasn't keen on handling a kunoichi running rampage because her kids were poisoned or her kitchen burned down. On top of that, he quite liked cooking. It was oddly relaxing to know what you ate. He found out that he had a good view from the kitchen window into the garden, where his team played with the boys.

It was interesting to watch them interacting as he saw a new side of them. Most interesting was Sasuke, he had a hard time keeping up his laid-back demeanour whilst Naruto and the twins had unrestrained fun with a hosepipe. Naruto was his normally loud self and the twins loved it. Kakashi was glad that he had at least one team member who could keep up with these children. Sakura was less chilly towards Naruto, and at one point just couldn't resist and joined in with the water fight. She conquered the hose and chased the screaming boys through the garden. Kakashi actually smiled contentedly; he would have never expected to see her so outgoing. At least not with Sasuke around her, but apparently this was too much fun to miss or she just needed a break from being a girl. They all looked like happily drowned cats.

Sasuke could not join them of course because having fun was definitely nothing an avenger could waste his time with. Maybe someday he would regret that he had denied himself such fun. Kakashi knew how that felt, but he doubted that Sasuke would ever listen to him. He shook off this bitter notion and watched instead.

The corners of his mouth twitched occasionally when Sakura begged for mercy or the twins tackled down a squealing Naruto, a warm feeling spread inside Kakashi. Naruto's grin was infectious as much as his father's had been and he couldn't keep it away, even if it stirred unwanted memories. Minato would have loved to see him like this; if he could have still been here Naruto's life would have been different. Fuck - his life would have been completely different, but it was as it was for all of them. He lifted his hitai-ate revealing his sharingan while watching them for a few minutes. Maybe it was ridiculous, but Obito would have liked to see this, so he would show him.

When he had finished lunch he took it out for the eager kids, it would be better to keep the wet bunch outside, or the kunoichi would eat him alive for the mess they would create. He was not ready to admit it, once more thankful for his mask, but sitting there under the tree and watching their antics was fun.

Sasuke surprised him after they had finished eating, when he began to shoo them into the house for a shower. He even insisted on Naruto and Sakura taking one too. It was an awesome show, when they argued with an adamant Sasuke. His demeanour was priceless and both Genin had given up after a few minutes and complied.

That was the point when Kakashi fled the scene before he cracked up. After a short assessment of the lawns condition he decided to remove the water with a jutsu, and everything seemed in order when the mother came back home greeted happily by her boys that began to deliver a full report including re-enacted scenes of their water fight.

When they were out on the street again they were all quiet and wrapped up in their own thoughts.

"Come on guys. Let's go have tea while I write the mission report."

They settled down and placed their orders at the small teahouse they stopped at. They were pretty tired after such a busy day. Sakura had sat down next to Sasuke, but to Kakashi's surprise, she just sat there even holding a polite distance. Ever since they had come back from their mission to wave, she seemed to be just a bit more grown up. She had shown these two self-absorbed show-offs her strength. Granted it wasn't fighting power, but she had plainly outclassed them both with her chakra control, but he was quite sure, she hadn't really noticed. More than that, the fight on the bridge had affected her. It seemed she had understood for the first time what it really meant to be a Shinobi. That all the fantastic tales they might have heard were just that - tales.

Moreover, they finally understood, that this wasn't just a competition, but deadly serious. This nudge had done them all good, even if Naruto still seemed to crave the possibility of proving that he could be as good as Sasuke. He had to make up for freezing with their first encounter with Zabuza's men.

Speaking of the devil, he took a quick glance at Naruto, who just seemed to be quietly brooding and by the looks he shot the Uchiha, it would just take a few more seconds before they began their rambling all over again. Naruto would make a fool out of himself because he couldn't hold his temper, and Sasuke would irk him into it even more, so he could show off his superiority. Kakashi knew he had to intervene now or be thrown out of the teahouse. He quickly got a pen and a standard report form from his vest and laid it out on the table.

"So now, let's just get this done." He shoved the form over to Sasuke and tried to keep their attention on the report and not into fighting teeth and claw again.

It worked for almost half an hour before Sasuke nearly jumped over the table to throttle Naruto, who got at him by remarking how he had just stood by and watched all day. Kakashi sighed inwardly, but used the commotion to finish his lukewarm tea before dragging them out. For the second time that day he just couldn't shake the feeling that he had witnessed such a scene before, but with a different cast.

**********************

The sun was shining through the window in the teachers' staff room. Iruka sat at his desk and wrote the letter that would accompany the rules for this year's exams. They had made a few minor changes in the precepts, but as always, someone would complain. He just knew it, but he would brush it off and just leave that problem for the Hokage. He was just an unimportant desk Chuunin. He smiled at that and began to chuckle a little too evilly. He received a few confused glances from the other teachers present. ´_I should get myself a private life after all,_ ´ he thought before he picked up his work again.

After finishing his letter he gathered his things to get to T&I again. Ibiki had been busy this morning as the masked Shinobi staffing the reception desk told him, if it wasn't something urgent, he should come back later. It really wasn't important but then Iruka could just get it off his list of to-dos.

Iruka cleared his desk and took his bag, waved a hurried good bye to the other members of staff and headed out of the window, followed by more startled glances and raised brows. Iruka-sensei never left that way.

************************

Kakashi glanced over to Naruto and Sasuke. He didn't know who started it again. This must have been the way Minato had felt when he and Obito had picked up one fight after another… or better said picked up where they had finished the last one? He sighed quietly and glanced over to Sakura. She was right beside him and he saw the same mixture of anxiety and annoyance Rin had shown in such situations. He felt the scar under his hitai-ate begin to itch. He laid a hand over it to calm the feeling. Sensei had always made fun of them in this situation, but exactly as they had been then, these two were too thick headed to realize that they were being teased. All he could do now was comfort Sakura and stop the boys when the fight got out of hand. He started with comforting Sakura, so he gathered his chakra and let it flow into her direction. She was very responsive to this, so she immediately looked up at him. He gave here a reassuring smile; he knew she could already read his expressions well enough to notice. She responded with a strained smile but nodded.

"Will they ever get over this?"

´_If they live long enough_` was his first thought, but he couldn't say that. Not to her. Kakashi's stomach tightened and the image of Obito lying under that stone flashed through his mind. He shoved it aside and forced another smile on his face and more importantly into his voice.

"Sure, they just have to grow out of that childish behaviour. Everyone does." More images, but of some of his fellow Jounin came up. "Well, to some extend at least, and maybe except for Jounin."

Sakura graced him with a sincere laugh for his efforts and he felt the knot in his stomach dissipate. Her willing surrender and faith in him soothed him on an unfamiliar level as much as it distressed him. Here he had another chance to let someone down, but maybe he just had to take the chance, not that he still had a way out anyway, since he was their Jounin-sensei now.

"Teme!"

That drew his attention towards the boys again. He turned around to have a look at them. They were standing hardly a hairsbreadth away from each other, their noses almost touching, and their postures as aggressive as ever, but it still lacked certain finality. This was still just a competition. Sakura and Kakashi gave a heart felt sigh. Then Sasuke jumped and Naruto crouched taking a fighting stance.

*************************

Iruka stretched himself and yawned on his chair in the mission office, the afternoon sun warming his tensed back. Sandaime next to him smiled, good-humouredly and took another drag of his pipe while sorting missions and taking a closer look at some of the reports here and there. The first rush around noon was over; the Genin teams had their D-rank missions and wouldn't come back for at least 3 hours. The other Shinobi had picked up their assignments earlier in the morning, so they had time to tackle the stacks of reports that still waited to be taken care of.

Iruka regarded his share with a defeated glance and began skipping through them to get a first impression. His ponytail had slipped down and made him look a bit dishevelled but otherwise he managed not to show any sign of how tired he really felt. Iruka bit back a sigh and the urge to rub his face that would certainly draw attention to him. So he picked up his pen before he began to work on the scrolls and sheets piling up on his desk.

Kotetsu was taking care of his share of files, writing the reports for the customers that wanted to receive one. When he finished one with Genma's handwriting on it, he glanced over to Iruka.

"Iruka-chan, do we know which training ground Genma reserved for us tonight?"

"Don´t 'chan' me Kotetsu or I will have my way with your hair again." Iruka smiled sweetly and chills ran down Kotetsu's spine. "He got field eleven, the one with the hourglass shaped clearing and the small stream on the outer rim. He came in and told me when you were out summoning the messengers."

"Oh water. Nice. Then maybe we won't get our asses served on a silver platter again." Kotetsu nodded absent-mindedly before his attention snapped back. "Have we planned what to do after training?"

Iruka shrugged "Izumo bragged something about grilled fish when I met him on my way here. I take it he wouldn't mind, if we would have a nice roof top barbecue again… so would I, if there wasn't a rather huge pile of homework and tests that I still need to grade. Just next to all the things I need to take care of for the Chuunin exams." ´_And I really need to sleep!_` he added mentally, before he shook his head defeated but still trying to keep the smile in place. "I think it will be a shower, take out and at least a gallon of coffee for me."

Before Kotetsu could respond, the impressive figure of Morino Ibiki came into the room, his long black coat waving dramatically around him, as he greeted them cheerfully before he walked up to Iruka.

Sandaime raised an eyebrow as he regarded Iruka. He had noticed that the younger man looked somewhat tired; he would have to keep an eye on that. He needed Iruka in good shape for the next few weeks and he just didn't want him to end up as a pincushion, when he took his class for weapon's training. Iruka had broken with many habits since his youth but he was still bottling up the things that bothered him. You would know when he was angry or happy or anything in between, but never when he was not doing well. He would never say a word when he felt overwrought; he would just break down when he couldn't handle it any more. It was stupid, but that was Iruka's way to handle things. Maybe he should talk to him later.

******************

When they moved, Kakashi watched them carefully. Naruto had really gotten faster; otherwise he would have a broken nose now. Sasuke's moves were smooth and controlled while Naruto still had a more intuitive fighting style and just let his instincts kick in. It would have been nice to watch them, if they weren't endangering civilians and Konoha. Sasuke had attached himself to the trunk of a tree performing seals for his next attack.

Kakashi's eyes widened. He had to stop them now, before it got out of hands.

"Stop it! Both of you!" He bellowed in his best commanding tone that made seasoned Shinobi flinch, but they plainly refused to hear him. Kakashi knew he couldn't allow them to disobey again, he hated it, but he had to make a point. Naruto was growling at Sasuke and they both jumped. Kakashi infused chakra into his own jump and grabbed both of them in mid air, landing crouched on a wall. He saw the stream just a few meters away and grinned evilly before he tossed the startled boys into the cold water. He jumped down on the handrail looking onto the water mildly amused. Sakura came running towards him. Naruto and Sasuke resurfaced and looked up to him, taken aback by his actions. Naruto regained his voice first and began yelling annoyed.

"What was that for Sensei?!" Sasuke just glared daggers at his Sensei for the humiliation.

"Maa, there you are. Next time please remember to wash your ears yourself, ne." Sakura's eyes went wide and her hands tightened around the rail. She had a hard time not to giggle. Kakashi would have liked it, when she, who they both seemed to see as weaker, would tease them now. She was holding back as usual. She was raised to be a girl and he really hoped she would leave it behind soon. She was not going to be a girl and he hoped she really didn't want to be either. She had decided to be a Shinobi. Kunoichi were many things but most definitely not girls in any ordinary sense of the word.

"What?!" Naruto shouted back while swimming towards the riverside, Sasuke following hard on his heels.

"Shut up baka." Kakashi raised an amused eyebrow. They somehow resembled croaking frogs in more than one way.

"You shut up teme." Sakura rolled her eyes. She couldn't stand it much longer. They grated on her nerves with their constant fighting.

"You always have to start it, don't you?"

"I didn't! That was you!"

"You both shut up now. Understood?" Kakashi's voice was just a bit more clipped than usual but this time that was enough for them to notice.

"Hai," came in unison from the two wet cats that jumped up on the rail from the shore to rejoin them.

Kakashi seemed to be highly amused by the look of them, but the truth was, that he felt helpless. He knew that maybe another approach would be faster or more promising, but like his Sensei he didn't want to drill them into dumb soldiers, but to make them understand why they had to obey or stop for that matter. They still didn't trust each other enough, but that was the reason why Genin teams got D-rank mission after all.

"You two go home and change. You have twenty minutes so hurry. We meet at the Hokage tower."

"As if you would mind going late," Naruto muttered under his breath. He received a short slap on the head before he jumped up on the next rooftop and ran home not even looking back. Sasuke glared just a moment longer before he also took off.

Kakashi sighed. "Come on, let's go and wait for them."

***************

Kotetsu and the Hokage looked up too and watched Ibiki walking over. He was an impressive figure, tall, muscular and heavily scarred. He stood before the desk, towering over Iruka looking down for a moment before he spoke.

"You wanted to see me Sensei?"

Iruka held his gaze while giving him a weak smile. They were not strangers, Ibiki was just a bit older than Iruka himself, but still he felt a little insecure around him. He had no reasons for that though and Ibiki was one of the few people that seemed to realize what they were accomplishing day by day, even if it didn't mean risking their lives on a daily basis.

"Yeah, sorry Ibiki-san, I didn't want to interrupt you. I would have come back later; you wouldn't have needed to make the effort to come after me. To be honest it isn't really important though."

Ibiki took a more relaxed posture and smiled warmly at Iruka "I figured that when you have tried four times in vain to see me. I thought that I might also come over when I actually have time for you, even if it might not be important. And actually I really don't mind the short break." His low voice had a soothing effect and Iruka was ready to be lulled into a more relaxed mind-set. Ibiki regarded him and had to bite back a chuckle when he saw Iruka's features relax into a more sincere smile.

"So what did you want to talk about? Something concerning the Chuunin exams I presume." Iruka snapped back to his busy self, grabbed his bag from under the desk and shuffled through a few folders before he pulled one out and opened it.

"Yeah right, when I was going through your form I saw you forgot to pick a substitute, if you might be prevented for any reason." He picked a piece of paper and handed it to the head of T&I and looked up apologetically.

"I know it is unlikely but just in case. Then I can bug the substitute on time to get acquainted with the tasks you have chosen for the exam." Iruka's cheeks began to flush with the first hint of a blush and he began to rub his scar on the right side of his face, his pen still held in his hand, as he met Ibiki's gaze.

Ibiki regarded the fretting teacher for a moment. He couldn't resist the urge to try to get Iruka to blush a bit harder and reached out and took the pen from his hand, deliberately violating the others personal space in a quite intimate gesture. As expected, Iruka froze.

"Sure." He scribbled a name in the vacant spot on the form and handed the pen back.

"Is there anything else?" Ibiki smiled charmingly down at him. Iruka suddenly felt unbelievable stupid for bugging Ibiki to come over just for such a ridiculously insignificant thing. He blushed harder then and felt completely out of place. His body was going numb and he fumbled for words.

"I – no, it was just…" he made a vague gesture towards the form and then gave up, leaving the rest of the sentence unsaid. He lowered his gaze on his desk. "I'm really sorry for harassing you for that Ibiki-san"

He sounded defeated and he knew it. Actually, he didn't know any more, why it had seemed to be important in the first place, but now it was somehow… odd. When had he become such a petty paper pusher? Why didn't the ground just open up and swallow him whole? He suppressed a groan and thought about hitting his head on the desk, but decided against it and looked up again. "Thank you for your trouble."

Ibiki looked stunned at the Chuunin and felt slightly guilty. He had forgotten to fill in the name and had made Iruka chase him in the first place. Now he felt more as if he had completely embarrassed him in front of everyone and didn't even know why.

"No need to apologize Iruka-sensei. You just do what you are supposed to do, don't you? And as I told you before I don't mind. Actually it was my fault in the first place, wasn't it?" he gave a reassuring nod and sat down on the edge of Iruka's table.

"Actually I also would like to get you involved in the security strategy meetings, if you can spare the time. It might be a good idea to coordinate the efforts there. Your security clearance shouldn't be a problem I presume?" with that he looked towards the Hokage, who held his pipe thoughtfully.

"No, it is not, I fully trust Iruka-sensei and the rest of my staff." The old man hid the smirk, when he saw Iruka blush still a bit more at that open display of trust.

Ibiki just nodded "I will let you know when we have the next meetings. I hope you can fit it into your schedule." Iruka nodded

"I'm sure I will. Thank you." At that moment he wasn't so sure, if he should be proud or desperate, when he thought of his already tight schedule. What he was sure of instead was that he felt the sharp pain of his headache coming back.

*************

Kakashi and Sakura had settled down in the shadow of the large tower, the Jounin reading his infamous orange book again. Sakura busied herself with untangling her hair; as a few other ninja passed them on their way either in or out.

Kakashi was more preoccupied with trying to figure out what he should do with his team, than the busty blond heroin that lost all her money in a card game and was about to find consolation in the heroes strong arms. He knew what he should do with Sakura that seemed to be the easiest case. Sasuke was still a few steps ahead of his teammates, but he really needed to acknowledge that he wasn't alone any more. Naruto needed to think more. Kakashi was quite sure that he wasn't as dense as he appeared, but at the moment he seemed to be obsessed with getting Sasuke's attention.

What he needed for them was a real challenge. Maybe he should recommend them for the upcoming Chuunin exams. They wouldn't have time for their personal problems then and just had to function as a team and he was confident they would, if they had to.

That was better than to hope for another C-Rank mission to go wrong. At least the Chuunin exams weren't as unpredictable as a real mission. He would have a word with Asuma about that. He could begin to train them today and see where it ended up. After their behaviour today, he had already planned to tire them out as much as possible, but then he would just continue with that anyway.

Naruto reached the Hokage tower first, clad in his usual eye violating attire his hair still a bit damp. He sat down next to Sakura in the sun and stared into the sky. He still looked disgruntled but kept silent – until Sasuke appeared. He landed next to them and cast a shadow over Naruto. He smirked down at the blond and every one could see that it hadn't been a coincidence, that he had landed right there. Kakashi had still hoped that Naruto would miss it, but there was no such luck today. Before he could say something to shoo them inside the building Naruto had jumped up, his cheeks flushed again with newly fuelled anger.

"What do you think you are doing?" The volume was quite moderate speaking in Naruto terms.

"What do you think I'm doing, baka?" came the sly reply. Sasuke really wanted to fight today.

Naruto couldn't even answer, he balled his fists and tried to restrain himself, but they all knew it would not take long now. Sasuke was aware of this too, his eyes blazed with a challenge. Whatever had bothered him to this extent, he seemed to want to work it out and use Naruto to do it, at least he was a willing participant. Sakura sat tense next to them and watched. She was really quiet today.

"Maa stop it you two." Kakashi made a point to hide his concern behind his bored behaviour and his Icha Icha novel. But it was to late. As if his words had triggered something Naruto lost it and produced a few clones as Sasuke jumped back and began to prepare his own offensive.

The Copy-nin stood up and cursed under his breath his book vanishing in the blink of an eye. They wouldn't listen to him now. Actually, he felt like they never did, but now he was pissed and for once he let them feel how pissed he really was. He just released his iron grip on his chakra, something he almost never did, just when he needed to focus completely on something else or when he wanted to like now. His chakra surrounded him like an almost tangible aura and at the moment it was laced with bright white anger. It was second nature to hide himself it was essential for his survival after all. For him to let go was harder than controlling his chakra. He knew he would attract attention, but he couldn't care less at the moment.

Sakura froze on the spot and her head jerked towards him. Her skin prickled with the power he exuded. It almost felt like the prickling of an electric current as it produced uneasy goose bumps. She knew he was angry. When Iruka-sensei had been angry it had been completely different more like a hot wind or a subtle burning but never like this.

Naruto and Sasuke both faltered for a second when they felt Kakashi, but Sasuke recovered first and resumed his attack. He began to kick, he spun, kicked and punched dismissing all of Naruto's clones, while the real one blocked a high kick. Just by instinct, he responded with an attack himself and so they were engaged in a taijutsu fight… again.

Kakashi had had enough and this time he wouldn't be so gentle with them. They both had earned a reminder of who was in charge here. With deadly grace and too fast for Sakura to even see him, he joined the fight. He gave Sasuke a solid kick in the ribs, while Naruto's torso was acquainted with a gloved fist. They both for sure would sport quite a nice bruise for a few days, but that was ok with him. The Copy-nin grabbed the orange jacket and dragged Naruto over to where Sasuke had landed. He didn't yell, he never had and he never would. He shot the still prone boy a glare instead.

"I said stop and that was EXACTLY what I meant." He grabbed Sasuke and pushed him roughly to his feet. He laid his hand none-to gently onto his neck and steered him toward the entrance.

He called over his shoulder as calm and nice as could be, "Come on Sakura-chan. We still have a report to hand in." The boy's didn't look at him. Their faces still flushed and set into annoyed grimaces as they entered the building.

Asuma and Team 10 just came through from the opposite direction. They considered the other team and they could see a smirk on Ino's face. Her eyes had darted from Sasuke to Naruto and back. She was just about to give a snide remark directed towards Naruto when Shikamaru's hand clasped over her mouth, effectively silencing her. Her eyes were still lit up with glee and a silent promise that Sakura would not get away without telling her what had happened. And of course a few nasty comments about Sakura being teamed up with Naruto.

"Yo Asuma." Kakashi was the first to speak.

"Hey. You guys had a problem I guess?!"

Naruto was about to give a retort, when Kakashi lifted him off his feet with ease. Naruto immediately went limp and didn't move at all. Asuma raised an eyebrow, rolling the unlit cigarette in the corner of his mouth.

"Maaa nothing serious just a little cat fight."

"Ah I see." Asuma grinned but wouldn't ask more for now, he was sure he would hear it sooner or later.

"Any plans for tonight?"

"Nope." Asuma was curious now.

"Mind if I come over later?" Kakashi could see Asuma's pleased expression, no doubt because he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

"Sure. You bring sake? I cook?"

Kakashi nodded. "See you later Asuma."

"Yeah." Asuma nodded to his team and they went on.

The Copy-nin set Naruto back on the floor, but never let go of his collar. Than he gave Sasuke a small push and they went on too.

"Sakura."

She looked up at him. "Hai."

"Please take the report out of my back pouch, it seems my hands are occupied." Sakura nodded unsure, but obeyed and took the report from him.

"You don´t have to shove us around you know." Naruto glared at his Sensei who just ignored him.

"Shut up baka, or you'll just get us into more trouble."

"WHAT?! I?! You behave like a total jackass the whole day, and now it's my fault?!"

"I didn't." Sasuke shouted and attempted to get to him, but Kakashi's iron grip held him down. Naruto reacted immediately by jumping out of harms way and escaped Kakashi grip, who lost hold of the smooth synthetic fabric. Naruto's bad luck was that he had counted on more resistance so he crashed right into the wall and took down a picture frame that shattered on the floor next to him. Kakashi followed him, picking the blond up once again and holding him. His grip on Sasuke's neck was still unforgiving, when he ushered him forward. Two ANBU appeared out of nowhere. The Genin froze into place, intimidated by these two highly skilled ninja. One of them dipped his head before he asked.

"Everything under control Kakashi-san?"

They all could hear the slight amusement in the muffled voice. With the red half moon markings around the eyes and green streaks above and below it, his mask resembled a raccoon.

"Yes of course ANBU-san." Kakashi wanted to strangle Tenzou and he would later for sure. The ANBU guards glared down on the Genin for a few moments but they were both stubborn enough to hold their ground. Then both masked Shinobi nodded and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi cursed his luck again and shoved Sasuke forward, holding Naruto still a handbreadth above the floor.

***********

Hokage-sama had left the mission room after team 10 had reported in, when they heard a ruckus in the hallway. Iruka froze for just a split second and cursed his luck silently.

They could hear Naruto's loud voice from outside the mission office. Iruka just glanced at the mission scrolls for a second, but there was nothing left to do today, so he would send them off early.

"Seems like Kakashi has his hands full with them." Kotetsu watched the door and bit back a chuckle

"Yeah. He did get the most promising but also the most difficult assignment." Iruka stated simply.

"Do you think he will manage?" Iruka was taken aback. He never thought about that. He had never questioned that Kakashi would actually succeed.

"Actually I never had a doubt about that. I never thought about Kakashi failing in anything. Sounds stupid somehow, doesn't it." He quirked his brow and looked towards Kotetsu.

"No it doesn't. Maybe we should discuss that later, I wouldn't really like anyone – and Kakashi in particular - to listen in on this conversation."

Iruka grinned and nodded. He felt the same but for a completely different reason. He felt the familiar tingling sensation he always felt, when a certain Copy-nin was within eyeshot. Just imagining him listening in on this made him almost die of embarrassment.

He tried to shut down that feeling, as he had all the others and suppressed another sigh. He placed his polite fake smile on his face and waited for them to enter. He glanced over to Kotetsu, who scribbled another line on a mission scroll, though Iruka could tell his attention was still directed towards the door.

Kakashi appeared a heartbeat later in the doorway nonchalantly carrying Naruto like a kitten at the collar of his jumpsuit, while separating him from a glaring Sasuke with his body. Sasuke stood tense next to his sensei, the Jounin's hand gently resting at the boy's neck. As Sakura came trailing in after them looking rather defeated.

"Yo." Kakashi greeted them cheerfully still holding Naruto effortlessly above the floor. Iruka gaped at the sight they made; Kotetsu fared much better and managed to keep his cool. He just raised an eyebrow and faked surprise, while he pulled over the mission scroll.

"Kakashi-san, the scroll said that you would take your team to baby-sit twins not recapturing ginger cats." Kotetsu gave an excellent act and his deep pleasant voice didn't even waver once. Naruto's eyes shot up to the spiky haired Chuunin, but knew better than to do something else than scowl. When they riled up Kakashi enough to make him physically intervene like this, it wasn't wise to push any more. Sasuke seemed to consent to that bit of logic and just ignored the comment as well as he could. Kakashi could almost feel the embarrassment of his two Genin and decided to use the bait.

"Well then maybe we should find out whose cat it is and try to fix a ransom." Kotetsu chuckled and looked over to Iruka. "Didn't you mention that you thought about getting a cat?" Iruka rolled his eyes and ignored the comment. Sakura shot Kotetsu a glare.

"Oh really Iruka-sensei?! I actually found two kittens. I have this black one here and the red one. Would you like one of these?" Iruka's eyes met Kakashi's, his amused voice betraying his forced smile, not that anyone would recognize that though. He rambled on without giving Iruka a chance to reply, "The black one is a little bit shy, he sure will hide under your furniture in the beginning but maybe you can coax him out with a little patience. The red one is full of energy it will tear your apartment apart. You can have them both if you like. I just…" Iruka rolled his eyes.

"Stop it Kakashi-sensei. Please." To his surprise Kakashi did and nodded.

Sakura sighed and came up to Iruka's desk. When Sakura reached him, he gave her a compassionate smile and took the mission report she offered. He took a quick look over it and nodded. "Thank you, this seems to be okay and there is nothing left to do for today. Thanks for your hard work." He had never really taken his attention from the Jounin and the boys. Kakashi had set Naruto back on the ground, but didn't remove his hands from either one, silencing them with just his presence. Naruto adjusted his jacket, but they didn't make another move, not even trying to shake his hands off him. They had turned their gazes down to the floor and waited in silence.

Kakashi looked over to Iruka. "Thank you Sensei. Come on you three. We're going to the training grounds. I have the feeling that we all need to let off some more steam." His voice was still a little playful if not downright sarcastic. Sakura smiled at Iruka and waved, before she went back to Kakashi's side. He looked directly at Iruka now and gave a short wave and one of his infamous eye smiles before he led his team away.

"There you go. They have finally begun to grow together somehow, haven't they?!" Kotetsu's deep voice startled Iruka out of his musings.

"Yeah. When they settle their hormonal problems, they will be a great team. At least I hope so." He really did, as it was his idea to team them up as they were. Iruka sighed and ran his fingers over his scar again. Kotetsu regarded Iruka and felt he should lighten the mood. Iruka had been acting a little strange these last few weeks, tenser and less and less approachable.

"So you don't want a ginger cat Iruka?"

"Oh shut up." Kotetsu chuckled as he dodged an eraser and resumed his work, but Iruka had smiled. Iruka took up a pile of paperwork he was finished with before he asked.

"I'm just going to take these down to the Bookbinder and then over to the Hokage's office. Do you have anything to take down?"

"Yeah wait… here." Kotetsu gave him his completed papers.

"I am going to take a short break. Should I bring you anything from the staff room?" Kotetsu, still smiling broadly, nodded.

"Something to drink would be nice." The other nodded and left Kotetsu alone in the mission office.

Iruka had delivered the papers to the Hokage who gave him a scroll for Kakashi. He had orders to deliver it personally, but first he would tend to his headache. He went to the lounge in the upper part of the building. He went in and took a quick glance around, but he couldn't see anyone. The weather was still gorgeous so most of the Shinobi without actual assignments would likely be outside. Iruka was relieved that he was alone though. Most of the windows and the doors to the small terrace were open, and the noises of the busy village carried into the bright room.

So he sauntered over to the fridge, taking the apple juice that looked like the one he had put in when he had arrived around noon.

He smiled contentedly as he walked over to his favourite armchair. He searched for the bottle of ibuprofen that was in one of his numerous pockets and upon finding it, took it out. He let his vest slide down to the floor and got rid of the hair-tie and hitai-ate before he gracefully collapsed on the armchair. He took the last two pills from the plain white bottle and popped them into is mouth before he reached down for the juice, taking a long draught direct from the carton. He just felt drained. The stress of the exams had added to the pile of work he was already doing and it was wearing him down. In that moment, without any spectators the carefully placed masked slipped and he looked tired, sad and vulnerable.

He hadn't noticed that he wasn't alone. In one of the corners another refugee had found a deserted spot before Iruka had come in. Now he just remained still, masking his chakra so Iruka wouldn't notice him. He had no desire to talk to anyone at the moment, but the intruder didn't seem to be to keen on a conversation either.

The silent spectator frowned slightly. Iruka looked downright edible with his hair down, but the sad and tired expression on the Chuunin's face struck another cord in him. It was rare to see Iruka let go and now he really would have liked to go over and just comfort him, but he knew to well, that he would not be welcome. It wasn't easy to get to know Iruka and be allowed to be his friend. Therefore, he kept silent and just watched.

It wasn't the first time that he thought about the strange effect Iruka had on him. He watched him throw the empty pill container into the dustbin on the other side of the room. His aim was true as ever. He didn't have a reputation for expert skill of throwing random things with perfect aim for nothing.

Sighing heavily the Chuunin curled up in the armchair, hiding his eyes with his arm, content to stay exactly like this until the painkillers took effect and he felt up to run his errand. He tried not to think for a few moments and just let the pills kick in, but he couldn't stop the image of Kakashi and Naruto from surfacing. It had been somewhat special seeing Naruto surrendering himself to Kakashi. He didn't even want to think about what he felt about that. The younger man didn't notice Genma leaving the lounge silently through a window.

*******

Iruka arrived at the training field. He was on alert and his senses stretched out to locate Team 7. He sensed them in the nearby woods, merely a few meters away, but he would not make the mistake of following fellow Shinobi - not even a Genin squad, deeper into their training field. Naruto's chakra was flaring like a bonfire and Iruka had to smile. It was almost as if he could see that blinding bright orange and was quite happy, that this senses couldn't be blinded. He chose to head up the rest of the path, leading to the three massive poles embedded in the earth. He jumped up onto the one on the far right and sat down there. He would have to wait for Team 7 to show up, but he actually didn't have time to wait for too long. He had a lot of work left and he needed to get it done before their training session started. He was sure Kakashi would have already picked up his chakra signal and thought about just giving of a flare, to make sure he didn't just forget that he was waiting here.

He reigned in his thoughts and made an effort not to let his chakra give away to much emotion. He sat down on the pole and pulled his feet up on the rim, his arms wrapping firmly around the knees and staring up into the deep blue sky.

Why did he have to meet him for the second time today? Why couldn't Hokage-sama just send one of the freaking birds?! Had the old man gotten a hint? Iruka groaned and let his face sink to his knees. Was he just as obvious as ever? He could only hope that no one else had noticed his long time crush on the Copy-nin. On the other hand, the longer he had it the more chances for someone to notice. Or was it that Hokage-sama just knew him to well? Then again, Ko and Izu should have been the first and when they found out he would be toast.

No. He would just keep going as he was before; it would not change a thing if Sarutobi-sama knew. Maybe he would say something at some point, but Iruka wouldn't have to pick at the obvious bait. He would just sit it out and ignore it, like he had always done. Keeping the secret had gotten harder over the last month since Kakashi had taken his Genin team. He knew his name now, he actually greeted him and they were exchanging a few polite sentences now and then. Kakashi had finally recognized him. No, that was a bit too enthusiastic, maybe noticed or better yet wasn't ignoring him any more. Yeah that was it. He thought about which category he filled in Kakashi's world. Maybe it would be something like "Former Teacher of my Team, Chuunin, nondescript, insignificant."

From the edge of the woods Kakashi was watching the hunched figure on the pole. He had felt Iruka's chakra signature a few minutes ago. It was somehow touching to see him curled up like that. He hadn't thought that the man he had heard so much about since he had been given his team could ever look so miserable. He had gotten the impression, that Iruka was an easy going and untroubled person. He had been curious before, but this kind of odd behaviour increased his curiosity. He had met Iruka quite often in the last few weeks. Better - he had noticed him around more frequently. He had seen him in the gym on several occasion, on the street hurrying along, grocery shopping in the market, in a bar with his friends and not to mention their small meetings in the mission office. Iruka had always been cheerful or at least polite, he had never shown any sign of distress like he was showing now. Despite his hunched appearance, his chakra was unbelievably calm and it had taken Kakashi a few moments to sense the miniscule irregularities he had tried to hide so carefully. But it was definitely not his business to pry. They were not friends and Iruka had plenty of other's to confide in. If Iruka wanted to hide it, it was his decision and he wasn't even that interested. He could easily let someone else have his secrets, he had enough himself and he knew how annoying the attention on that topic could be. Kakashi made the seals for the transportation jutsu and landed just a few feet away from the Iruka, revealing his presence.

Iruka began to get impatient. He had no time for this, he actually thought about reaching out with his chakra to nudge Kakashi, when he felt like somebody was watching him. He was glad that his teacher instincts had been honed over the years and he let his gaze wander over to the tree line but could not see anyone. He didn't want the Copy-nin to find him like this, so he just unravelled himself and assumed a crouching position. He was quite sure, that Kakashi would appear any second now and was not disappointed. There he stood Sharingan no Kakashi in all his glory. Iruka swallowed and waited a second before he gracefully jumped down from the pole and walked up to him. He bowed politely "Sorry to interrupt your training Kakashi-sensei, but Sandaime sent me to deliver this." He smiled apologetically and handed the scroll to the Copy-nin.

"Maa Iruka-sensei, no problem. Thank you." Kakashi nodded and Iruka gave him a small smile and a wave before he took a step back and made the needed seals and vanished in a poof of smoke.

Kakashi watched the smoke dissipate. He turned around and took a few steps before he opened the scroll and his heart sank. If Hokage-sama wanted to see him for a mission briefing in the evening he knew what that meant. He clamped down on the dread and placed the scroll into his pouch. He still had to watch over the rest of the training of his team.

***************

Thanks a million to my betas TheaBlackthorn & Dying Dreams!!! *hugs*


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